April 5, 2000
ON TAP: The sixth-ranked Arizona State women's tennis team (10-4, 2-1 Pac-10) will close out it's home schedule hosting Pac-10 opponents Washington and Washington State. The dual match vs. Washington will take place Fri., April 7 at 1:30 p.m. while the Washtington State match will begin at noon on Sat., April 8. Both matches will be held at Whiteman Tennis Center. The Lady Devils will try to end a two-match losing streak, after dropping dual contests at No. 12 USC and No. 24 Texas in March. Before Saturday's match, the team will honor its lone senior, Kerry Giardino.
SENIOR KERRY GIARDINO: The only senior on this year's squad, Kerry Giardino has been a leader on and off the court. She will not play this weekend, as an ankle sprain suffered on April 1 will keep her out for the next few weeks. From Palos Verdes, Calif., she has a career dual match record of 47-20 and is 78-49 in overall singles. This year, she and partner Karin Palme are undefeated at No. 3 doubles. In 1999, she received a Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention honors and was ranked as high as No. 63 by the ITA. As a sophomore, she won the Pac-10 Invitational Singles Championship as well as the doubles crown with partner Faye DeVera. Earlier in the season, Giardino upset the eighth-ranked player in the country at he 1998 ITA West Regional Tournament before bowing out in the quarterfinals. As a freshmen, she posted the best record on the team, going 8-1 against Pac-10 opponents. She is a 1996 graduate of Peninsula High School, a tennis powerhouse in Palos Verdes, Calif. As a prep, she had a 125 match win streak while winning the Division I State title five straight years.
Kerrry Giardino's Carrer Marks
| Dual | Overall | Dual | Overall | |
| Year | Singles | Singles | Doubles | Doubles |
| 1997 | 16-3 | 26-14 | 10-7 | 15-13 |
| 1998 | 10-6 | 19-12 | 2-1 | 8-5 |
| 1999 | 15-4 | 24-10 | 2-1 | 6-4 |
| 2000 | 6-7 | 9-13 | 11-0 | 16-2 |
| Total | 47-20 | 78-49 | 25-9 | 45-24 |
IN THE RANKINGS: Although the Sun Devils' stay at the No. 2 spot in the country lasted briefly, as a miscalculation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association moved the squad one spot too high, the No. 3 ranking ASU earned in the March 22 edition was the program's highest ever. During the previous week, the team moved from No. 7 to No. 4 surpassing the program's previous highest ranking, a No. 6 mark achieved during the 1997 season. After a loss to No. 24 Texas, the squad dropped three spots and are currently ranked sixth. Individual rankings were published on March 29, placing injured sophomore Allison Bradshaw down two spots to 12th-best in the country. Junior Karin Palme vaulted up to No. 28 from her 70th-place just two weeks ago. Freshman Megan Yeats improved 19 spots and is now ranked 61st. Freshman Mhairi Brown dropped out of the rankings. In doubles, the tandem of Bradshaw and Celena McCoury are ranked 21st, despite not playing together since February.
THE OPPONENTS: Washingon (10-6, 3-2) is ranked 34th in the country and boasts the No. 1 ranked singles player in junior Krstina Kraszewski. Zuzana Stunova is the only other Husky on the singles rankings, in at No. 88. Kraszewski and Darja Klaic are the 42nd-ranked doubles tandem in the country. The team defeated Oregon 6-3 last weekend.
Washington State (10-7, 1-2) is ranked 54th as a team, but does not have any individuals ranked in singles or doubles. The Cougars upset Oregeon 5-4 last weekend.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Sun Devil tennis program began the season with the new Robson Player Facility. Located on the southwest corner of the existing Whiteman Tennis Center, the spacious facility features new player locker rooms, offices, a training room and a shaded viewing terrace for spectators. Arizona State has posted a 7-2 record this year, and over the past four seasons, is 45-15 (.750) when playing in Tempe. This season's losses came to sixth-ranked UCLA on Jan. 29 and top-ranked Stanford on March 3.
IN THE PAC: The Sun Devils are playing in the toughest conference in the country. All six of the southern Pac-10 schools are ranked in the top 20, five of which are in the top 10. Stanford and UCLA are ranked first and fifth, respectively, while Arizona State is sixth and California holds down eighth. USC is 10th, followed by Arizona in the 20th spot. The northern Pac-10 schools are not far behind. Washington is ranked 34th, Oregon is 52nd and Washington State is 54th. Individually, six of the top 10 players ? including the top three ? come from our conference and in the 100 athletes that are ranked, 24 hail from the Pac-10. That same ratio is found in the doubles rankings, where six leage tandems are in the top 10 and 10 are in the top 50.
LAST WEEK'S ACTION: The Lady Devils did not play last weekend, but during it's last outing on March 25, the squad was upset by 24th-ranked Texas 6-3 at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin, Texas.
Down 4-2 after singles play, ASU couldn't manage a must-have doubles sweep as Karin Palme and Kerry Giardino were the only doubles winners for the Devils, defeating Michelle Faucher and Rebekah Forney 8-5 on court three. Palme and Giardino are undefeated as a doubles tandem this season with a 10-0 record.
The Sun Devils played without it's No. 1 player, 10th-ranked Allison Bradshaw, and only earned singles wins on the third and fifth courts. ASU's Kerry Giardino topped Texas' Vladka Uhlirova 6-3, 6-2 and Megan Yeats posted her team-leading 21st victory of the season when she defeated the Longhorns' Kaysie Smashey 6-3, 6-2
THE COACH CLAIMS 250TH WIN: Sheila McInerney, in her 16th season at the helm of the Sun Devil program, earned her 250th career win as ASU defeated Oregon on Feb. 19. McInerney, who is averaging 16 wins per season, has led her team the past two seasons to back-to-back NCAA Round of 16 finishes. ASU has made NCAA appearances in 14 of McInerney's 15 seasons, including six quarterfinal finishes. During her tenure at ASU, the 1997 ITA National Coach of the Year owns a 254-150 record and has been a two-time ITA/West Region Coach of the Year honoree. Additionally, McInerney has tutored 18 Sun Devil All-Americans, 11 All-Pac-10 players and 22 conference All-Academic honorees.
ALLISON BRADSHAW: Although currently sidelined by a foot injury, Allison Bradshaw is the highest ranked player for the Sun Devils in the ITA standings, 12th-best in the country. She and teammate Celena McCoury are the only doubles tandem ranked on the squad and are currently 21st. Bradshaw has played the No. 1 spot for the Sun Devils all season and is 6-2 in dual matches and is 14-4 overall. The sophomore from San Diego, Calif., played in the ITA Summer Championships, making her way to the third round before retiring due to injury. As a freshman in 1998-99, Bradshaw earned All-America honors in singles and doubles, receiving a top-16 seed in the NCAA Championship singles tournament and a top-8 seed, with former teammate Katy Propstra, in the doubles competition. She currently carries 45-20 career record.
KARIN PALME: Junior Karin Palme, from Guadalajara, Mexico, brings international experience to the Sun Devil squad due to her appearances in the 1998 Fed Cup, 1998 Central American Games and 1995 Pan American Games representing Mexico. Ranked 28th by the ITA, she currently carries a 8-6 dual, 16-9 overall record, playing mostly in the No. 2 spot during singles competition. She is 2-3 vs. ranked teams at the No. 1 position, where she has been playing in place of the injured Bradshaw. Palme is 48-33 in her singles career. She and teammate Kerry Giardino are undefeated in doubles compeition this season, 9-0 in dual matches, 10-0 overall at the No. 3 spot.
JUNIORS DEVERA AND MCCOURY: Although currently not ranked, juniors Faye DeVera and Celena McCoury have been integral in the team's success this season. DeVera has been playing in the 2-5 slots in singles and is 9-4 in dual matches, 17-14 overall. McCoury has been playing on courts 4-6 during singles and is 6-4 in dual matchs, 14-11 overall. In doubles competition, the two have not been as successful, holding a 1-6 overall mark. As a freshman, DeVera won the Pac-10 Invitational Doubles Championship with teammate Kerry Giardino. McCoury played in Europe last summer, capturing the championship title at a tournament in France.
FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE: Freshmen Mhairi Brown and Megan Yeats have made significant contributions this season. Yeats currently posts a team-high 12-1 dual record while Brown is 10-3. Yeats is currently ranked 61st in the country and has an overall mark of 21-6, winning 16 of her last 17 matches ? inlcuding a current 11-match win streak ? en route to becoming the first team member to notch 20 wins on the season. She plays in the fifth and sixth spots in singles competition. Brown boasts a 18-7 overall mark, second on the team, and is not currently ranked. Her record is divided among the fourth through sixth spots. Her 10-match win streak was halted by Stanford's Gabriela Lastra on March 3. The pair also team up at the No. 2 doubles position where they have posted a 5-2 dual mark and are 13-6 overall.
RECORDS ON THE RISE: The Sun Devils' doubles teams have compiled an outstanding 49-19 (.721) overall mark and a 23-11 dual record this year, while ASU has recorded 109 overall singles victories and is 57-27 (.679) in dual play.
SWEEPING THE COMPETITION: On four occasions this season, Arizona State has finished a team match without dropping a set in singles competition, nor going to a tiebreaker in doubles action. The Sun Devils most recently accomplished this feat against in-state rival Arizona on Feb. 26, submitting only 19 sets between six singles matches and three doubles. Arizona State also notched such success over New Mexico, Tulsa and Texas Tech.
ITA Rankings
Team as of April 5, 2000
| Rk. | Team | Record |
| 1. | Stanford | 18-0 |
| 2. | Georgia | 15-1 |
| 3. | Wake Forest | 13-1 |
| 4. | Pepperdine | 16-4 |
| 5. | UCLA | 11-5 |
| 6. | ARIZONA STATE | 10-4 |
| 7. | Florida | 15-1 |
| 8. | California | 12-4 |
| 9. | Texas | 12-5 |
| 10. | USC | 13-4 |
| 11. | Vanderbilt | 16-2 |
| 12. | South Alabama | 14-2 |
| 13. | Duke | 14-4 |
| 14. | Notre Dame | 15-5 |
| 15. | Northwestern | 14-3 |
| 16. | William & Mary | 15-6 |
| 17. | Mississippi | 12-6 |
| 18. | Baylor | 15-2 |
| 19. | Florida State | 14-4 |
| 20. | Arizona | 7-8 |
| 21. | South Carolina | 13-7 |
| 22. | Tennessee | 13-9 |
| 23. | Tulsa | 14-4 |
| 24. | Mississippi State | 9-6 |
| 25. | TCU | 14-4 |
Individual as of March 29, 2000
Singles
| Rk. | Name | Team |
| 1. | Kristina Kraszewski | Washington |
| 2. | Laura Granville | Stanford |
| 3. | Marissa Irvin | Stanford |
| 4. | Zuzana Lesenarova | San Diego |
| 5. | Adria Engel | Wake Forest |
| 12. | Alison Bradshaw | Arizona State |
| 28. | Karin Palme | Arizona State |
| 61. | Megan Yeats | Arizona State |
Doubles
| Rk. | Name | Team | |
| 1. | Lesenarova/Valykova | San Diego | |
| 2. | Dvorakova/Zoldakova | TCU | |
| 3. | Curran/Jensen | California | |
| 4. | Blau/Gough | Arizona | |
| 5. | Ashley/Irvin | Stanford | |
| 29. | Bradshaw/McCoury | Arizona State |